The Personal Planner is an affordable build your own planner. I wanted something different so ordered the 8.5″ wide x 5.75″ approx. high page size. I like some of their customisation options but I don’t like the font on the weekly spread so decided to cover some things up with stickers and make it look a bit prettier.

I’ve done a black and gold themed spread in the past and liked it, so decided to try it again – plus it’ll look good with the marble background I chose.

Before the Pen

After the Pen

Most of the stickers I used this week were from the Happy Planner and The Paper Studio.

I used some number stickers from the Happy Planner journaling sticker book. Since they have a white background and the paper underneath would show through, I used washi tape to cover up the existing numbers first, so there wouldn’t be any show through after I placed the stickers. Always do this if you’re re-dating an expired planner!

I don’t like monthly overview calendars in the weekly spread – they clutter up the page. If I want to see next week, last week or next month etc. dates I can flip to my annual dates at a glance calendar. So I covered up this section with a MAMBI half box sticker which was also from the Happy Planner journaling sticker book (after whiting out the existing text).

I kept the top section for personal and bottom for blog. I like the open ended box – it’s not as restrictive as pre-divided spreads.

I never have an issue with the BLOT gel pens (PaperMate inkjoy gel dupe) but on the paper in this planner, for some reason the ink keeps skipping – it’s inky and smudges. I’ve never had issues using the blot pens on any other paper. I tested writing on a piece of printer paper to see if the ink is running out or dry, but the pen wrote as smoothly as it usually does. I won’t be using the Blot gel pens in this planner again.

The list section is a good idea, but the space is too small to write more than 2 words. Definitely need a bigger page size too.

When I was sticking the washi tape it grabbed onto another section of the page and tore the paper. Normally I can just peel off no worries but in this planner, the paper ripped.

Supplies Used:

• Personal Planner (see my review in this post)
• Keji white out tape from Officeworks
• Mambi gold box sticker from the Colorful Boxes sticker book (no number on the sticker book but it has a blue banner and 594 pieces)
• MAMBI Happy Planner handwritten plans sticker book
• BLOT black gel pen
• American Crafts gold gel pen
• The Paper Stuidio Agenda 52 – home life, foiled sticker pack
• MAMBi Happy Planner journaling sticker book
• MAMBI Happy Planner black and gold thin washi tape

Not sure if I got a dud or this is normal, but some of the stickers in the Paper Studio sticker book have been miss-cut halfway through the word.

Would I use this planner again?

I’m not sure. I was excited to use this custom planner but I was a bit disappointed. The bottom section underneath the days of the week looks smaller in person than I was expecting at the time of ordering. The paper in this planner isn’t that great either. I hope they improve their paper quality in the future. I know it’s a very affordable planner but I don’t mind paying a bit extra for decent paper. I think I also should’ve bought a larger page size.

Past weekly spreads

• Sticky note weekly spread (pastel theme)
• Bullet journaling with planner stickers in the Happy Notes Book
• Rainbow Weekly spread using dot markers

Planning tips

• Digital habit tracking in Goodnotes versus habit tracking on paper
• My 7 favorite planner supplies for making lists
• Ballpoint versus gel pens: which are better for planning?

Tired of drawing up weekly spreads?  This printable bundle of 52 different 1 page weekly planners (you can mix and match to create 2 page spreads if you prefer), is available in my Etsy shop and online store. It comes in US letter size and Happy Planner classic page size.

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